Stephen Lund Resigns As CEO of BDA
Board Chairman of the Bermuda Business Development Agency [BDA] Mrs. Caroline Foulger today announced the resignation of Stephen Lund as Chief Executive Officer of BDA, effective as of February 28, 2014.
Mr Lund, a Canadian, took on the post last summer.
“The Board of the Bermuda Business Development Agency has accepted the resignation of Mr. Stephen Lund effective February 28, 2014. Mr. Lund will be replaced by Mr. David Cash, the BDA’s Deputy Chairman, who will serve as interim CEO.”
Mrs. Foulger continued, “We are grateful to Stephen for his service to the BDA and we thank him for his contributions to the organization. The BDA is greatly changed from when Stephen joined the organization and he leaves us much strengthened from the time of his arrival.
“We acknowledge Stephen’s personal decision to return home to Canada and we wish him well in his future endeavors.”
“Turning to the future, I am pleased to be able to announce that David Cash, the BDA’s Deputy Chairman, has agreed to serve as interim Chief Executive Officer to allow the BDA Board of Directors time to appoint a new Chief Executive Officer. The search for a suitable replacement is already underway and we are confident that the BDA will not miss a beat through this transition.”
Mr. Cash commented, “I respect Stephen’s decision to return home to Canada and his family and I wish to thank him for all his efforts to make this transition as seamless as possible. Stephen has put in place a terrific group of professionals at the BDA and I am looking forward to working together with this team to execute our business development strategy in the marketplace.”
David Cash has been involved with the promotion of Bermuda’s international business sector since 2009 when he joined the Board of Directors of Business Bermuda. He took over as the Chairman of Business Bermuda in March 2011 and is a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Bermuda Business Development Corporation. David is the former Chief Executive Officer of Endurance Specialty; a Bermuda based international insurance and reinsurance company.
Wow, he didn’t last long. My guess is that he was frustrated at this groups inability to get ANYTHING done.
not even one year? whasup wid dat?
So really it’s not as alarming or scandalous as David Burt was trying to make it on Facebook.
Burt finds everything “alarming” or “shocking”, take your pick.
When-oh-when will Bermuda finally recognise that its on-going erosion in the tourism and international business arena is NOT due to an evolving market, the Island’s antiquated legislation, overly bureaucratic civil service or the global economic malaise. Although these and other factors certainly contribute to the sorry state of affairs in which we presently find ourselves, the overarching reason for our failure to remain competitive and our loss of attractiveness versus our competitors in the eyes of our visitors and clients is the unbridled arrogance of our business leaders, local professionals and service providers. Throughout the 60′s, 70′s, 80′s and 90′s Bermudian hospitality was at its apex and the community leaders at the time understood the need to deliver a quality product in a friendly, efficient manner. There was an appreciation for the high standard of living this approach delivered to the majority of our residents. Unfortunately, the current Bermudian leadership in these sectors has been raised in a privileged environment and have no concept of how to actually generate business or compete in a truly global market. The local lawyers for example make a VERY comfortable living essentially doing nothing more than proofreading the work product of London, New York and Hong Kong solicitors under the guise of providing opinions on Bermuda law. In my experience, very few senior partners at CD&P or AS&K etc. (gives you a sense of how long in the tooth I am!) would last beyond lunch if they were required to compete alongside counterparts with magic circle or Wall Street firms. Outside of the professional sector, most hospitality workers have succumbed to the pandering rhetoric of local politicians who have fostered an entitlement mentality which has done nothing but create a generation of rude and indifferent customs officers, shopkeepers, luggage porters, bus drivers and just about anyone else a visitor to our Island is likely to encounter. I suspect Mr. Lund very quickly concluded that despite his very lucrative compensation arrangements it was not worth his time or energy to compromise his family life and professional standing to try and convince all of the usual suspects (i.e. the people comprising the Business Development Agency board and its various industry focus groups) that in order to succeed, Bermuda will need to acknowledge the contribution of the work permit holders, permanent residents and tourists. For some reason, the Bermuda legal, accounting and insurance professionals and current leadership at the BIU seem to think they are the reason for our past success. How truly delusional they are!
That was on very much on point charlietuna…
‘unbridled arrogance’
very fitting.
like joanne macphee
maybe there was some unscrupulous business practices going on, and mr lund wanted no part of it.
charlietuna, you depress me. Why bring down the whole country with your depressing crap. What have you done to help this island other than deduct that its all over but the crying. What sucks is comments that draw huge conclusions from generalizations, like yours. Every town and city has all kinds of issues to deal with everyewhere, what makes them succeed is the individuals who have the balls to push forward and create some optimism. Its the negative members of our societey that keep us from succeeding.
As for Mr Lunds resignation case in point, you have no idea why he resigned, and yet you have the whole story.
If its so bad, why dont you leave before the ship sinks.
From what I hear in NS, Lund was highly overrated in his old job and this is not overly surprising to many people.